1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for recording a video content. More specifically, the present invention concerns a program reservation and recording system and a recording substitution system for reserving and recording TV programs which are broadcast as scheduled.
Much more specifically, the present invention relates to a program reservation and recording system and a recording substitution system for servicing reliability of reserved program recording. Particularly, the present invention concerns a program reservation and recording system and a recording substitution system for servicing reserved program recording even if no recording is available due to an insufficient capacity in an audience's recording medium.
2. Prior Art
A television set became one of the necessities of daily life a long time ago. In addition to television sets, a video apparatus for recording broadcast programs has come to be widely used. Recently, a multi-channel approach is developing rapidly along with the introduction of satellite broadcasting and cable television, there is an increasing need for the capability of reserving programs preferred by the audience.
Conventionally, many storage media for recording TV programs employ the sequential access method such as video tape. Recently, with the development of the digital technology and large-sized hard disc drives (HDDs), HDD-based recording devices have become available. These trends are reported in journals such as, say, “Increasingly marketing devices for recording TV programs on HDDs” (Nikkei Electronics, No. 727, pp. 27-28, 1998) and “Digital recording technology using HDDs available for home use” (Nikkei Electronics, No. 727, pp. 41-46, 1998).
When a large-size recording medium is used for recording programs, it is possible to record a series of dramas for weeks or a plurality of programs in the same time zone for reservation without needing to know the remaining capacity of the recording medium. By contrast, however, reserving a great number of programs may easily cause unsuccessful recording due to incorrect understanding of the remaining storage capacity.
It was often the case that a video tape cassette with a sufficient recording capacity is found to be unavailable just before the broadcast time of a program to be recorded; the program is not recorded completely because an available size of the video tape becomes insufficient in the middle of the recording; or the recording fails due to a device malfunction or other unexpected events.
Especially, a failure to record an intended program causes a disappointing and inconvenient result for the audience.